Game 2 of Best of 7:Jazz @ Rockets

[Shabi__5]

Game 2 of Best of 7: Jazz lead Series (1-0)
at Houston, Monday, 9:30 p.m.

Game 1 Box Score/Photos:http://www.nba.com/games/20080419/UTAHOU/boxscore.html


Projected Starting Lineups:
PG: Bobby Jackson #8 vs. Deron Williams #8

SG: Tracy Mcgrady #1 vs. Ronnie Brewer #9

SF: Shane Battier #31 vs. Andrei Kirilenko #47

PF: Luis Scola #4 vs. Carlos Boozer #5

C: Dikembe Mutombo #55 vs. Mehmet Okur #13

Coach: Rick Adelman vs. Jerry Sloan

Bench:
Aaron Brooks #0 vs. Ronnie Price #17
Luther Head #2 vs. Kyle Korver #26
Chuck Hayes #44 vs. Matt Harpring #15
Carl Landry #14 vs. Paul Millsap #24
Steve Novak #20 vs. C.J. Miles #34

Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoprknU2mSk&eurl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoprknU2mSk&eurl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vch5t5wnwug&eurl


Game 1 Notes:
We just didn't play well enough and we still had a shot to win.
This series is not over , if win this game 2 I truly believe we have a chance to steal one game at Salt Lake.
Yes I know they are the best home team in the NBA but anything can happen in one game.
If we lose this game the series is over so this is a must win.
In game 1 we just blew too many good oppurtinitys and made stupid mistakes that were momentum killers.
In game 2 we need to rebound better , make free throws and captalize on easy layups and fast break oppurtinitys.
We can still do it , I Believe!!!

[Julio]

I Believe.
We have to get something from one of our PGs.
Maybe give Brooks more time; or maybe Jackson will remember he's not MJ and will try to be a playmaker.
I Believe!Go Rockets!

[Ksnyder18]

BIg game we really need to win this!

[Texas Longhorns]

If we ever needed a game this whole season, it's this one. We cannot go into Utah 0-2. If we can get this, and maybe sneak one in Utah, then we still have a chance at the series. There's no way we can go down 0-2 on our home court and go to Salt Lake expecting to win 2 there.

[TiMacMania]

we cannot lose this one

[Dinky Bits]

There's no chance for us to win this series.

[Baller 24]

There's no chance for us to win this series.

Come on! giving up already? Your like the best trash talker here, and your giving up. You do know last year we won game 1, but lost the series. I know how you feel, they **** let us all down. But all we have to keep doing is executing on offense, playing strong and hard defense.

[Dinky Bits]

I'm trying to pull a reverse jinx.


I'm actually kind of glad we lost game 1. In our previous series, we've gone up 2-0 and lost focus. Now our guys know that they have to bring it every night or they're done.

[Texas Longhorns]

Has anyone noticed this?

All the Rockets players wear black shoes. Now if I am correct, T-Mac said they were going to start a tradition (he said this starting with game 1 against Dallas in the 2005 playoffs) where everyone on the team wears black shoes. The did it again last year against the Jazz and now again this year. Could this be the bad luck?

[bballmaniac27]

If we lose this game I really think we're gonna get swept. I still have faith in the team though.

[TMU]

If we lose this game, the series is over.

And how come nobody's talking about Rafer Alston?
It was evident that we miss him. If you watched last nights game, Bobby Jackson didn't have the same impact as Rafer would have had. Our ball movement wasn't as good, and moreover, Jackson took ill-advised shots and missed them horribly. I thought he was trying to do a little too much out on the court.

EDIT: For those who said we might be better off without Rafer, you are WRONG. Without Rafer we don't have a decent shot of winning this series.

[King Roosk]

Like I was saying in the game 1 thread, we need to stop Deron Williams from getting into the paint. BJax did a good job for a while, but he simply broke down late. We need our shooters to hit their shots (if BJax wants to do his best Rafer impression from 3 pt land then we have no chance), and I'm looking for Adelman's coaching to come through.

This series isn't over, but game 2 is a MUST win.

[King Roosk]

Also, I don't expect AK47 to drop 20 points on 67% shooting very often, so I think game 2 is very winnable if we execute the same defensive gameplan. It's unbelievable to me how we were still within reach of winning game 1 despite how poorly we played for stretches.

[TMU]

Also, I don't expect AK47 to drop 20 points on 67% shooting very often, so I think game 2 is very winnable if we execute the same defensive gameplan. It's unbelievable to me how we were still within reach of winning game 1 despite how poorly we played for stretches.

Yes, hopefully not. That was totally unexpected and our players underestimated him. Battier played him loose during the first half, and dude was just knocking down shots.

[A.J.]

It our time to win. Go Rockets

[TMACFORMVP]

We're just not talented enough to beat them, Kirilenko might not drop 21 but then Okur won't drop just 4 points. I thought our defense was good enough to win the game (scary thought considering they shot 52%) but we just didn't have enough offense, bad shots, no movement and only 36%. Imagine if we didn't have Battier, we would have shot under 30% most likely...

I honestly don't have much faith.

[A.J.]

Like I was saying in the game 1 thread, we need to stop Deron Williams from getting into the paint. BJax did a good job for a while, but he simply broke down late. We need our shooters to hit their shots (if BJax wants to do his best Rafer impression from 3 pt land then we have no chance), and I'm looking for Adelman's coaching to come through.

This series isn't over, but game 2 is a MUST win.

If Rafer was playing then I think we could stop him in the lane. Until then Deron will keep attackign the rack. And I do agree, we need our shooters to hit their shots badly.

[Baller 24]

All we have to do is what JVG preached to us: play defense. If we play solid defense and force them to take bad shots I'm pretty sure we can win. On the offensive end, Adelman looked like he had great plays set up, but we weren't executing. Lets just try and do those two things, and we may have a shot. And Battier is going to have to play the defense he did on Kobe to shut AK up. I don't know if we have an answer for Boozer, but on the offensive end for us, he is a defensive liability. They probably have one of the weakest front courts considering defense with Boozer and Okur, since neither is a shot blocker.

[bubba]

if we could box out utah's bigs and stop deron, this series is still winnable. scola did pretty much what you could ask of him. keep in mind its his first playoff series. mutombo did a fairly good job too making some key plays and rebounds. the pg situation is really killing us. deron will continue to trample over b-jax and aaron. bobby's got the height, but aaron has the speed. im not giving up yet, but would it be horrible if we started the chuckster at the 5 instead of deke? all i would ask of him is to keep boozer in check. id actually put scola against okur. hayes is pretty dang strong. id like to see battier against deron, but who'd guard kirilenko? t-mac? no way. this is where i miss sura. in his day, he could probably do a good job against deron. so....
1. box out and be aggressive on the boards
2. limit deron (cant stop) to drives and make someone else shoot.
3. have landry and harris all over millsap
4. rockets, drive to the hoop!!!!!!

[Ribalding]

if we could box out utah's bigs and stop deron, this series is still winnable. scola did pretty much what you could ask of him. keep in mind its his first playoff series. mutombo did a fairly good job too making some key plays and rebounds. the pg situation is really killing us. deron will continue to trample over b-jax and aaron. bobby's got the height, but aaron has the speed. im not giving up yet, but would it be horrible if we started the chuckster at the 5 instead of deke? all i would ask of him is to keep boozer in check. id actually put scola against okur. hayes is pretty dang strong. id like to see battier against deron, but who'd guard kirilenko? t-mac? no way. this is where i miss sura. in his day, he could probably do a good job against deron. so....
1. box out and be aggressive on the boards
2. limit deron (cant stop) to drives and make someone else shoot.
3. have landry and harris all over millsap
4. rockets, drive to the hoop!!!!!!

Oh. Now I get it.

That's all? Do all that stuff and we can win?

You, sir, are a genius.